When someone becomes famous and well known, it is in our nature to try and relate to that person in any way we can. We look for similarities and connections no matter how tenuous. I had the opportunity to read Jeremy Hansen’s bio recently and lo and behold, we have things in common. While that may be a bit of a stretch, nonetheless we homo sapiens tend to connect where we can.

Both of us are from the same little village of Ailsa Craig in southern Ontario that hardly anyone has heard of until now. Population of the village in 1960 was 500 and I lived just three miles down the road in Nairn, an even smaller village that claimed just 250 souls. “Close” counts here, just like in horseshoes.

While we grew up in different eras and our paths never actually crossed, if you really reach, you can agree that we have connection. He later lived in London and so did I. While he became an astronaut, at one point he too was a private pilot. Me, I still am. He has flown CF-18s and I sat in one once.

Here we differ as he has flown supersonic while my flights are decidedly subsonic. Jeremy has flown the Hawk 1 Golden Hawk CF-86 — and I’ve always wanted to.

We both served in the Canadian Armed Forces. He was Air Force while I was Army. Here our paths differ again. He became a colonel while I was a gunner. We both have goals and while I’ve reached most of mine, he’s still working on his. One day he will fly to the moon and while I will never get any higher than some local mountains that’s okay because I’ve always been afraid of heights.